Summer in QLD - Brisbane - comments please

Hi

Been here a couple of months and absolutely loving it; however a lot of people I meet comment on the Australian summer and how I will be lucky to survive it! How horrific is it?

Once we have survived the summer ; -) we hope to buy. We are in brick built low set which keeps nice and cool on sunny days. What are other people's experiences of brick v Queenslanders in the heat?

Hi

Been here a couple of months and absolutely loving it; however a lot of people I meet comment on the Australian summer and how I will be lucky to survive it! How horrific is it?

 

Once we have survived the summer ; -) we hope to buy. We are in brick built low set which keeps nice and cool on sunny days. What are other people's experiences of brick v Queenslanders in the heat?

Out western suburbs you may suffer, eastern suburbs get the bay breezes which are nice and do help, I work outside, east or west so have to like it or lump it, but I actually have no problem with it.

More important is does it capture breezes. A Queenslander can be worse than a lowset brick if it's in a hollow. Generally though, Queenslanders will be cooler if it's not built-in underneath.

There is generally less than half a dozen days during summer where the heat is horrible. And maybe 2 or 3 where we just shut the house up and put the air-con on.

We live in a low set brick house, we don't have air con but do have ceiling fans. We have been here 9 years and i have come across approx 5 days that were 'unbearable' as in too hot to do much or do what we had planned.

I love the summers here ,its the cold winter nights that get to me,lol.

Cal x

More important is does it capture breezes. A Queenslander can be worse than a lowset brick if it's in a hollow. Generally though, Queenslanders will be cooler if it's not built-in underneath.

 

There is generally less than half a dozen days during summer where the heat is horrible. And maybe 2 or 3 where we just shut the house up and put the air-con on.

Bay side will get the sea breezes, high set, low set, brick, Queenslander, hill or hollow, you will get the breezes, out west you will not get the sea breezes full stop.

Must say for some reason this year we have the reverse aircon on in winter more than last summer, as Cal says there are only a few days to a couple of weeks that aircon is needed in summer.

I think it's all to do with the insulation.

Our brick rental was really cold in winter and really hot in summer (basically it was always several degrees warmer than the outside temp). Only advantage is that it cooled down quickly when the sun went down.

The brick house we bought it much better insulated and it doesn't get as hot or as cold. The only disadvantage is that it doesn't cool down as quickly at night so the summer nights stay hotter.

Hi

Been here a couple of months and absolutely loving it; however a lot of people I meet comment on the Australian summer and how I will be lucky to survive it! How horrific is it?

 

Once we have survived the summer ; -) we hope to buy. We are in brick built low set which keeps nice and cool on sunny days. What are other people's experiences of brick v Queenslanders in the heat?

It's not horrific in any sense of the word, sometimes to some maybe uncomfortable at times, the southern states can get higher temp and more prolonged heat waves than Qld and more bush fires - which can be horrific.

Really useful to hear your experiences. I can manahe a week or two of unbearable heat . Plus I work in an airconditioned building so can put in some long days then use the flex when it gets cooler :-)

Although not planning to buy until this time next year thought we would look at some properties in December/ January in local area to see where would be manageable. We are out in Ferny Grove so not a hope of sea breezes!

The heat is never a problem for me. However humidity after the sun goes down can be pretty bad for a month or so.

Humidity peak summer is only issue. First year might be tough but you will acclimatise...

Lucky to survive it????? What are those people on about? Do they think you are going to cook and just die or something? Makes me laugh when I hear comments like that, I'm sure it gets just as hot in Perth in summer and I've been over to Queensland on holiday in the middle of summer and loved it. Actually got a lot of rain in the 3 weeks we were there which was a big change from Perth.

Isn't the hot summer weather a reason why a lot of poms come. Certainly was the case with us and I still love the summers and can't wait for the mornings to be lighter too.

I didnt live there but spent a lot of time there, a few days every fortnight or so. I found the temperatures are less likely to get very high as they can in Sydney or Melbourne. Temperatures in high 30s are uncommon in Brisbane and humidity is more the issue. I used to go to the office early in summer, before 7am and just stay indoors in the middle of the day if it was uncomfortable. I would never use the word "horrific" though and nor do I think it is a case of survival..

Our old house was a Queenslander and if it got over 40 degrees, the inside walls were hot to touch so we had to turn off the electricity and escape to the mother in laws with an esky of frozen food as she had aircon and a pool.

Its when the water from the cold tap comes out hot that you start to worry:-)

Or when the pool feels like a hot bath.

I found summer difficult for about 6 weeks. We didnt have aircon, and the days were fine but its when you struggle to sleep as its humid and hot that gets to you. Lots of midnight swims and back to bed slightly damp to cool down in order.

Oh the other thing is when next door has ducted aircon on 24/7 and their unit sounds like a mini nuclear power plant.

Its when the water from the cold tap comes out hot that you start to worry:-)

Or when the pool feels like a hot bath.

I found summer difficult for about 6 weeks. We didnt have aircon, and the days were fine but its when you struggle to sleep as its humid and hot that gets to you. Lots of midnight swims and back to bed slightly damp to cool down in order.

Oh the other thing is when next door has ducted aircon on 24/7 and their unit sounds like a mini nuclear power plant.

Yes I reckon 6-8 weeks is pretty horrible especially at night. The other 3 seasons are much nicer in Brisbane.

Hi

Been here a couple of months and absolutely loving it; however a lot of people I meet comment on the Australian summer and how I will be lucky to survive it! How horrific is it?

 

You will get lots of seemingly contradictory answers because so much depends on one's individual response to heat, and what your lifestyle is.

I'm one of those whose body doesn't cope well with humidity - if I try to do anything remotely energetic when it's hot and humid, I feel physically sick. That wouldn't be a huge problem if I was the kind of person who enjoyed lounging by the pool or relaxing in my air conditioned home, but I'm fairly active, so being stuck indoors is my idea of hell!

But there are other people whose bodies cope well the heat, and there are also those whose hobbies and interest can be pursued perfectly well in air-conditioned comfort, so the climate is a non-issue.

You will get lots of seemingly contradictory answers because so much depends on one's individual response to heat, and what your lifestyle is.

 

I'm one of those whose body doesn't cope well with humidity - if I try to do anything remotely energetic when it's hot and humid, I feel physically sick. That wouldn't be a huge problem if I was the kind of person who enjoyed lounging by the pool or relaxing in my air conditioned home, but I'm fairly active, so being stuck indoors is my idea of hell!

 

But there are other people who relish the heat, and there are also those whose hobbies and interest can be pursued perfectly well in air-conditioned comfort, so the climate is a non-issue.

Good post, it's another one of those one size does NOT fit all situations. I'm not bothered by the cold, at all really, and my kids are the same. Others start to put layers on when it gets to 20c whereas that is my ideal temperature. My wife didn't mind the humidity whereas I would sweat like a pig.

I suspect I will struggle a bit for your reasons Marisa.

I am not one for lounging by a pool and have never done sitting on beach type holidays. However, if I can enjoy the outdoors for 10-11 months of the year I can catch up on my reading in an air conditioned room when it gets really bad.

I have to admit I really dislike humidity. I could bear nearly 40C dry heat in Perth but absolutely wilted in Sydney when it was over 25C and humid.

I don't mind cold weather - another reason we moved to Tasmania though I have found this winter much colder than last winter (our first in Tasmania). Snow fell for about 5 minutes here in Devonport the other day. Lovely! Today was a lot warmer ... 17C :shocked:

I suspect I will struggle a bit for your reasons Marisa.

 

I am not one for lounging by a pool and have never done sitting on beach type holidays. However, if I can enjoy the outdoors for 10-11 months of the year I can catch up on my reading in an air conditioned room when it gets really bad.

We always found 8-9 months were nice and the remaining months were not so pleasant.

yup 9 months is about right. Dec to Feb pretty horrid but the storms are spectacular. Feb is often the worst. You think you have broken the back of summer then BANG a week of ridiculous heat and humidity

I have to admit I really dislike humidity. I could bear nearly 40C dry heat in Perth but absolutely wilted in Sydney when it was over 25C and humid.

 

I don't mind cold weather - another reason we moved to Tasmania though I have found this winter much colder than last winter (our first in Tasmania). Snow fell for about 5 minutes here in Devonport the other day. Lovely! Today was a lot warmer ... 17C :shocked:

Me exactly! My husband is the same for other reasons - no problem with the heat but allergic to the sun. So while everyone in Southampton is moaning about the "poor summer", he's lovin' it.

Been here just over a year now, when we arrived in June 2014, we were amazed at how many people were 'rugged-up' whilst we were walking around in shorts and tee-shirts. One person actually asked if we were Brits based on our attire

We have now acclimatised and are back in long trousers (pants) and jackets on the cooler evenings, still tees during the day though!

I am located an hour and a half drive west of Brisbane so it is going to be 6 degrees cooler anyway, but virtually no humidity even in the peak of summer, yay!!

We've just done our first summer here. When we arrived people were telling me that in summer, your make up would slide off your face, that we'd struggle with the heat and that my hair would hate the humidity. I also have to keep my legs covered at work due to a tattoo and was told it would be 'awful' for me.

One of these things happened (the hair). My mascara was not running down my face, I coped wearing trousers or tights (very thin tights!) that made my tattoo barely visible and we probably only struggled for a couple of days with the heat.

We didn't use the air con at home and just opened all the doors when we were in, but did need fans at night.

Having a pool also helped as I just jumped in when it did get too hot (a couple of times at about 9pm I was in just to lower my temperature before bed!).

We are Bayside though. I drove to Wacol one day in the summer and the car thermometer just kept creeping up. It was a much more stifling heat when we got out the car and I was glad to get back home!!

My first Aussie summer, after migrating in Oct '14. Like people say, humidity not heat is the issue. We bought a 12year old Queenslander in the Dayboro area with a large open area underneath and not in a hollow, so catches some breeze. It has air-con in the master bedroom only and is 4 bedrooms, 2 bath and a living/dining/kitchen area with a vaulted ceiling in the living area……….. no pool unfortunately! We also have ceiling fans in 2 bedrooms. We moved in Dec '14. Summer for me was horrible and with all the insects too it made it worse. By Jan '15 we'd invested in a couple of large floor standing fans for the living area, which helped quite a bit. There were 6 nights when it was that humid I needed the air-con on all night in the bedroom, with it kicking on low in when it got above about 22c. We've been quoted $14,000 to have a 13Kw zoned and ducted air-con system put in, which is the most economical way to cool the whole house apparently! I would say that the worse months are Nov through to March. A storm is a welcome break from the humidity…….but it's only a brief respite! I visited my mate in Perth last November and it was a pleasant 25-28c, whilst in Qld it was 46c and humid as hell!